Sunday, August 7, 2011

Man With No Place

D.W. Dillon
Las Vegas, NV

"The Man With No Place"

Directed by Mike Figgis
Written by Henry Bean
Music by Mike Figgis
Produced by Mike Figgis and Annie Stewart

Principal Cast:
Hugh Laurie as Eamon Francis
Ziyi Zhang as Yen Sun
James Gandolfini as Josiah Lean
Malcolm McDowell as Winthrop Dunmore
Russell Sams as Dunmore's Messenger

Tagline: "It's never too late to find yourself."

Synopsis: Eamon Francis (Hugh Laurie), proprietor of the Clockwork Pub on the lower east side of Manhattan was an inscrutable sort. Though he offered no more to his patrons than obvious advice and a shot to hold onto. They didn't know his past; the loss of his wife, or the ulcers that plagued him. They didn't even know of his highly acclaimed poetry. Though one maybe hard pressed to find it published anywhere of note. Those ten-cent Streetwise newspapers you see a bum peddling in alleyways is your best bet. Eamon's obscurity didn't go unnoticed, much to his annoyance. Winthrop Dumore (Malcolm McDowell) of the Academy of Arts & Letters had tried many of times to lure him into notoriety, but was always met with much resistence. Eamon's temper was more documented than his poetry. On one occasion Dunmore sent a messenger (Russell Sams) to offer him an invitation to recieve the 1963 Golden Medal honor given out every six years to the poet with the most distingueshed body of work. Even at his most temperamate, Eamon's sense of humor rivaled most, as the smarmy messenger left with his own golden award. For Eamon, it was jail-time well spent. Bailed out abruptly as always by his number one fan. The newspaper mogul, Josiah Lean (James Gandolfini) who was as close as anyone could get to the bitter, untamed poet. Lean was big and thought big, wanting only the best. He admired the likes of Eamon Francis. With him, Lean felt authentic and lived somewhat vicariously through his talent and recklessness. Ever persistent, at times pushy, he offered sincerity, which many say was the reason Eamon tolerated his intrusion.

Eamon's secluded lifestyle had shunned almost everyone. That is until one cold day in 1964. After closing down the pub early, due to his lingering stomach ulcer, he walked into his flat to find a beautiful naked woman (Ziyi Zhang). She acted as if she had lived there with him his whole life. Their first meeting was an unconventional display of muted interaction. Was she a stalker, he thought? It didn't matter. She said nothing, so Eamon accepted her graces which consisted of a foot bath and a massage. And for the next three nights his evening was spent in her silent company of pleasure and love.

The odd occurrence had changed him. Eamon was a bit more kind and social, which is why Dunmore was finally held to his esteem. While he didn't accept his award, he did agree to publication. Much to his friend Lean's disappointment, he insisted on treating his poet friend to a celebratory dinner. There, Eamon would see a ghost. Lean's wife Yen Sun greeted Eamon as if she had never invaded his life. But she had. The tension fueled dinner at the Lean mansion cut like a knife. Lean was bitter, Yen Sun nervous, and Eamon displaced. Later that night, she would run away from her tormentor for the last time and find herself at Eamon's doorstep. Her bruises showed like battle scars. Lean was a man of dominance and demanded her servitude as if she lived in times of her great ancestors, where the wives gave up their freedom. Eamon didn't want to care about her, but she lived as he felt; a slave to the world of selfish tyrants. His rage boiled and he would run to his door, ready for war, only opening it to see his friend, who was there merely asking for help to find his lost wife. But there he saw her and Eamon. The next thing he offered Eamon was not a blank check to publish his poetry or bail money, but a walking stick to the stomach. Repeated thuds were heard throughout the building and then a CRASH.

Yen Sun catered to the ailing poet. Wiping away the coughed up blood. She nursed that night and held him into the morning. The bloody lifeless body of her nightmare still lay at the front door. She held Eamon's hand where he laid as he began to recite the poetry locked his head for years. Poetry not about the greedy and seedy world of thugs, whores and liars. but about his previous wife losing her life to her families' beliefs by refusing modern medicine and about two new lovers connecting amongst the screams of sadness to happiness. About a man who had found his place.

What the Press Will Say?: "Your idols from space, your titles are waste, watch her bleed in pain"

Hugh Laurie plays an eccentric poet laureate/bartender in 1960's New York, and in this scene recites his poetry in his head while serving two suspecting Scientologist's in director Mike Figgis' latest film, "The Man With No Place". The narrative-poetry is the center of a story that follows a man in limbo and his rise from obscurity. A brutally honest and delicately structured film that ascends from scene to scene. One of the terrific achievements in the movie is the way Hugh Laurie as Eamon Francis is able to refrain himself from manic outbursts in public, while the audience clearly hears what goes on in his head with his poetry. He's about to burst and instead we are treated to a sarcastic yet restrained confrontation here...

"What could I possibly use a Gold Medal for? A coaster, perhaps?"
"Mr. Francis, this is a highly acclaimed award and..."
"...and you insult me with your white company shoes, which look better as a toilet."

His rage, while contained is still shocking, yet understandable as we learn about his past hardships that have made him. He's not short of redeeming qualities and is quite humorous as shown here in an encounter with a beautiful pseudo-stalker played by Ziyi Zhang.

"You are by far the most beautiful nude stalker I've ever come home to..."

Ziyi Zhang turns out to be the abused-obedient wife of Hugh Laurie's number one fan, played by James Gandolfini as the admiring newspaper mogul looking to publish his works. The love tryst enters uncharted waters when Laurie finds out who his stalker really is. Regardless, she breaks through his armor and he lets go of his past. The sadness in the movie lies in his torn past from losing his wife and her hurt present as a slave-wife which are so apparent, that their love comes with a price.

"In many ways I love him. He brought me to you. His infatuation with your words made our love possible."
"But how can you love a slave owner?"
"We're all slaves, no Eamon?"

Their love is equivalent to freedom and Henry Bean's touching screenplay answers all the right questions in a complicated relationship that is relevant to today's standards. Mike Figgis, director of such gritty dramas as Internal Affairs and Leaving Las Vegas sets his characters apart only to bring them together in a touching finale that is both remarkable and memorable.

Best Picture
Best Director - Mike Figgis
Best Actor - Hugh Laurie
Best Actress - Ziyi Zhang
Best Supporting Actor - James Gandolfini
Best Original Screenplay - Henry Bean

Hedy

D.W. Dillon
Las Vegas, NV

"Hedy"

Directed by Wim Wenders
Written by David Self
Music by Ry Cooder

Principal Cast:
Natalie Portman as Hedwig Keisler/Hedy Lamarr
Nastassja Kinski as Hedy Lamarr
Ulrich Muhe as Fritz Mandl
Ben Chaplin as George Antheil
Thomas Bo Larsen as Adolph Hitler
Bob Gunton as Louis B. Mayer
Clotilde Courau as the Maid

Tagline: "Made up to break up."

Synopsis: France-1937, after pawning her wedding ring, the lonesome Hedwig Keisler (Natalie Portman) auditions for small plays but a chance encounter with movie mogul Louis B. Mayer (Bob Gunton) became her big break. At his insistence, she would now be known as Hedy Lamarr, the star of such films as Algiers, Boom Town, The Great Zigfield and DeMille's Samson & Delilah. Hedwig, like many, made bad choices, turning down Oscar-winning films such as Gaslight and Casablanca for dumbed-down comedies like My Favorite Spy. She was in a state of limbo. A string of husbands came and went. The only headlines she would grasp now would be that of shoplifting. Though not all was lost for Hedy as she formed a close bond with her neighbor, German-born avante-garde composer/inventor George Antheil (Ben Chaplin). She had finally found someone to relate to and be joyful with. His brazen musical talents sparked her muse. They had big plans for the world but a tortured past halted any advances he would make, but together they would develop the frequency hopper that made it harder for enemies to detect radio-guided torpedos. Though their invention was not implemented until the Cuban missile crises of the 60's, it laid as the basis for wireless phones.

Orlando, Florida-2000, Hedy's (Nastassja Kinski) legacy had now been cemented with a Hollywood star on the Walk of Fame, numerous awards from the science world and a biographer to document her life. Once the "Most Beautiful Woman In Films" now the "Woman of Science", with all her critical acclaim still battled the demons of her past that plagued her nightmares. How could she face god knowing she had slept with the devil. As she lay dying, her confession would be her salvation.

Austria-1933, the infamous actress of the x-rated Czechoslovakian film "Ecstasy" steps to the alter to marry the wealthy, older, arms manufacturer and fascist, Fritz Mandl (Ulrich Muhe). Little did young Hedwig Kiesler (Natalie Portman) know, he was as much of a tryant as the leaders he supported; never one to hold back a raised hand or not force himself upon her at his leisure. He even went so far as to purchasing every copy of her notorious film, while keeping her locked away in his castle, where his French maid (Clotilde Courau) kept an ever watchful eye on her. Otherwise, at his side at all times, he often took her to his manufacturing plant where, Hedwig, a closet-math genius learned all she could of the art of weapons manufacturing. She honed the craft and the business, since her newfound acting career laid halt to her husband's insecurities. The weapons plant wasn't the only place Fritz would take her. To obtain key support in business and in society, Fritz hobnobbed with the likes of Adolf Hitler (Thomas Bo Larsen). His advances had made her stomach churn. She was a prisoner in her own marriage. She would close her eyes, and let the powerful man of Germany, wreak himself upon her body. And so the parties raved on. But they had taken it's toll on young Hedwig. Convincing Fritz to letting her wear all her expensive jewelry to attend the next gala held at the fortress he called a castle, she would plot her getaway. Their eyes watched over her like hawks but perfect-timing led to her escape as she slipped three sleeping pills into the maid's nightly java and her husband's wine glass. She was free from the prostitution, free from the evil. She had to make things right.

Hollywood, California-1942, the glamorous leading lady of MGM studios, Hedy Lamarr (Natalie Portman) holds an extravagant fund-raiser where she is surrounded by all of Hollywood and their wallets. She would clear 7 million dollars in this single evening by selling war bonds to support the fight against the Germans. So much money, and so many people...she was definitely one of a kind.

What the Press Will Say?: Acclaimed German director, Wim Wenders with such films under his belt as the influential "Wings of Desire" and "Paris, Texas", pays homage to one of Austria's most celebrated and misunderstood icons of all time, actress Hedy Lamarr. This fascinating look into a person, whose scars she kept as a reminder to make more of herself. To make more than the evils that tried to define her. Wenders' use of black and white film creates much depth and style. A scene that will be forever remembered is Hedy's sly and thrilling escape from the clutches of her husband at the castle Schwarzenau. A sort of Hitchcockian moment in the film. Tracking Hedy's ever movement, we feel as if we are wandering through a video game, not knowing what monster may lay in wait, with a time clock ticking.

As the young Hedy Lamarr, Natalie Portman, in a maturing performance defines assassinated beauty. With most of her dialogue in German, she brings out her innermost Lolita as something beautiful, yet dare not touch. But she is touched and she is taken and abused. Those bruises hurt even more as we discover her brilliance and potential as she lays the groundwork for her escape from the clutches of evil men such as her husband Fritz Mandl, played by the fearless German actor, Ulrich Muhe (The Lives of Others, Funny Games) and of course Thomas Bo Larsen's (The Celebration) Adolf Hitler. Larsen's Hitler is spooky and unpredictable as a man at the height of power, completely insecure and violent. They are attracted to Hedy through her beauty, but are disgusted with her at the same time. They shower her with money, as if it were mere paper made out of a broken tree. When she escapes, the audience does as well. To a new light and a new life. She is the starlet of her era but like most stars, she falls from the sky. Her undying and uncompromising quest to be righteous is backed with her genius from selling millions of dollars of war bonds in WWII, as well as her crowning achievement of laying the groundwork for the invention of the wireless telephone. Ben Chaplin as her eccentric neighbor helps her create what will change the way of life as we know it today. Their affair is quite delicate with a cautious Hedy finally letting love in, and a true friendship that lasted till the ages. A truly admirable lost art. Natassja Kinski teams up with Wenders for the second time to play the elder Hedy who is bittersweet about receiving her acclamations and recognition, all the while holding that everlasting skeleton in her closet; the affair with Hitler filled with empty kisses, and her loveless slavery of a marriage. Her recognition to science and life help her to confess her sins of the past. She beats herself up, not for the pain of what they did to her, but because she didn't know how to fight back.

Writer David Self's (Road to Perdition) script resonates Hedy's story through the masses. She faltered yet had quite a way about her. Unselfish, proactive and provocative, full of sorrow, yet so pessimistic. There were few people like her in show business. "Hedy" is a remarkable tribute to those who are more than just actors.

This bait is dedicated to Paul Newman (1925-2008).

Best Picture
Best Director - Wim Wenders
Best Actor - Ulrich Muhe
Best Actress - Natalie Portman
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas Bo Larsen
Best Supporting Actor - Ben Chaplin
Best Supporting Actress - Nastassja Kinski
Best Original Screenplay - David Self